Wisniewski, Gardner Defeat Challengers To Retain Belts

Las Vegas, NV-Despite a disappointing final fight and relatively short card FFC’s inaugural trek to Las Vegas, the Mecca of MMA, went off well. The card featured some of the most talked-about fighters on the feeder circuit with even Jason Lambert versus Travis Wiuff coming in half way through the show. Even the "bottom" half of the card featured up-and-comers from Team Extreme and Team Quest, two of the most prominent teams around. The only complaint justifiable would be most shows of this level contain more like ten to twelve fights but the "extra" fights are usually local fighters booked to sell more tickets. Bottom line is the standing room only crowd that packed The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino didn’t seem to care about the length since it was made up for in intensity.

Wisniewski pounding on Prater

Huerta hammering Wiman

Headlining the card were two title fights; Dave Gardner defending his Lightweight belt against Ryan Schultz and Keith Wisniewski defending his Welterweight belt against Carlo Prater.

The final fight of the night turned out to be a disappointment as Team Quest’s Ryan Schultz dislocated a rib just one minute into his fight against Dave Gardner. Basically Gardner took Schultz down and started to deliver knees to Ryan’s right side ribs but it was his left side Ryan was grasping as he winced in pain upon standing. As of this writing it is unclear where the rib injury originated but it fell the young up-and-comer at just one minute.

Also on the card Keith Wisniewski defended his belt against the man from whom he won it in the first place, Carlo Prater. This fight by all accounts was very similar to their first meeting with Keith controlling most of the takedowns and Carlo having the edge standing.

United Full Contact Federation: Brawl at the Supermall
Held September 10th, 2005
At the Vision Quest Training Center
Auburn, Washington
By Mike Neva

Davis mounted on Friese

At over 30 000 square feet, the Vision Quest Training Center is without question one of the largest and most equipped training facilities in the sport of MMA. Some features of this massive marvel of MMA include a full range of weight equipment, stationary bikes, treadmills, wrestling mats, a boxing ring, a sauna, and a slew of heavy bags. With most of the equipment crammed into the second tier of the facility (yes, there are three separate tiers) the boxing ring was front and center for the inaugural Brawl at the Supermall.

In conjunction with the UFCF, promoter Matt Hume used the experimental Pride amateur rules, which consist of one 5-minute round followed by one 3-minute round. The only slight variance in the rules between this event and the most recent AX Fighting Championship, which was the first ever show to feature the amateur Pride rules, was a leniency for the main event fighters to not wear shin and knee pads, which was mandatory in the first show.

The card itself was comprised of mainly first time fighters with little or no in-ring experience. It was obvious that Hume had done his homework on these youngsters; all the bouts were evenly matched and highly entertaining. After the first two contests went to the judges cards, the jam packed audience was becoming antsy for a finish, and Kirkland native, Jesse Davis, did just that. At the sound of the bell, Davis, and his opponent, Dylan Friese, swung for the fences trading bombs with Davis getting the better of the exchange. As blood began to cascade from Friese’s nose, it became quickly evident that the nose had been fractured. After a quick check from the doctor, the bout was restarted but things only became worse as Davis battered Friese with punch after punch. One more check with the doctor and a cotton ball in the nostril later, Friese was given the go ahead to continue. After being lambasted with another barrage of strikes, referee Joe Derobbio finally called it off late in the first round. The sell out crowd was on its feet after this all out war, and gave both men a huge ovation at the conclusion of the bout.

Morris (top) vs. Colcher

In the main event, Frank Colcher, a recent transplant to AMC from Shah Franco’s in Ontario, took on the always game, Paul Morris. Coming into this bout, both men had redemption on their minds. Morris had recently been defeated by Team Quest’s Ian Loveland, and Colcher had not fought an mma bout in over three years. In somewhat of a surprise to many in attendance, Colcher had little resistance to Morris’ ground and pound assault. From the opening to the closing bell Morris controlled the action, working for the most part in Colcher’s half guard where he threw punches and hammer fists for much of the eight minute bout. In the end there was little doubt that Morris had done enough and was awarded a hard earned unanimous decision.